Revival Stories

The 1906 Khasi Revival


In the early years of the 20th century, God moved in many places around the world to stir up revival fires in His Church. One lesser known place that witnessed such an outpouring was in Khasi, India. Khasi is a district in the Indian state of Meghalaya, which is found in the northeastern part of India, just south of Tibet and west of Myanmar.

It was here that God first sent Welsh Presbyterian missionaries in the year 1841. By 1902, with diligent preaching and resilience under persecution, the Christian community had steadily grown to over 20,000 churches. Yet, around that time, the Church had also grown lax in her passion for Christ and the things of the Kingdom. The world was starting to woo the Church away from her first love.

In 1902, powerful spiritual forces were set in motion as two missionary women serving in the Khasi Hills listened to a message on the significance of prayer. They were so fervently stirred by this that they headed back to their churches burning with a fresh longing for the kind of prayer that would see mountains move. In 1903, one of the churches began holding Monday night prayer meetings dedicated to asking God for a mighty awakening by His Spirit. These meetings blazed hot for several years, especially as believers were inspired immensely by stories of God’s work in the 1904 Welsh Revival. In 1905, truly anticipating that God would soon bring revival, the church began meeting every single evening to ardently ask God for a Holy Spirit outpouring.

It was on Sunday, March 19th, 1905, as the morning worship service concluded in the town of Pariong, that one man stood up and prayed a passionate prayer full of angst and anticipation. He beseeched the Lord to send His Spirit like He did in the Welsh Revival and to not send them away empty. Others soon joined in fervent intercession. Some cried out for mercy, while others fainted to the floor. Amidst the growing chorus of soulful weeping and unrestrained shouts of praise, the presence and power of God fell upon and saturated that place. Revival had arrived in the Khasi Hills!

Soon, those who were bathed in revival fire in Pariong that day travelled to other towns to share the news of God’s visitation. Often revival would break out as young men or women started to agonize in prayer, desperately calling upon the Lord with unparalleled thirst for His presence in their town. The Church’s crying out to God intensified to whole new levels as fresh revival started to ripple across the towns of the region. And in this outpouring, the children were especially touched in a mighty way, with elementary-aged kids sharing their testimonies, weeping in repentance, praying heartfelt prayers, and boldly giving out the Gospel to listeners in public places.

The revival would catalyze across that entire region of India over the next two years. Christians saw visions, heard angels, received prophecies, and experienced miracles and tangible reactions to God’s very presence. People, even non-believers, heard loud sounds like a fierce hailstorm on the roof, or saw a bright shining light emanating from the top of the building, or experienced seeing what looked like flames or a rushing wind in the room. This resulted in many re-dedications or new salvations as they witnessed God-at-work.

About 8000 people are known to have directly come to Christ through this revival in India. A deep transformation also took place in most people’s hearts, causing folks to confess their sins and try to make things right again. The Church became energized once more to be steeped in the Word and to take the Good News to the lost. Because many children were powerfully saved, it raised up a whole new generation of leaders for the sake of the Kingdom. And, ultimately, it was used by God to spark many other revivals around the world, most notably the mighty nation-shaking outpourings that soon were birthed in Korea and in China. One small spark of revival fire can change the destiny of nations.


QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS:

  1. How did extraordinary prayer play a role in the Khasi Revival? What other factors added to the growing flames in people’s hearts that led to the birth of revival in 1905?
  2. How did the revival spread? What do you imagine it would look like for revival to start and then spread from your city to the nearby ones? What would be the same as it was in Khasi? What would be different about how it spreads in our time in history?
  3. What manifestations do you find most encouraging? Why? Which results get you the most excited about the potential of revival in your city? Which ones could you start praying for even now?
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